13 Nov 2013

The Black Madonna is a painting of the Madonna
and Christ Child which legend states was painted by St. Luke the Evangelist.
St. Luke is believed to have used a table top from a table built by the
carpenter Jesus. It was while Luke was painting Mary that she told him about
the events in the life of Jesus that he eventually used in his gospel.
This same legend states that that when St. Helen went to Jerusalem to search
for the true cross in 326 AD, she happened upon this portrait of Our Lady. She
gave it to her son, Constantine, who had a shrine built to house it. In a
critical battle with the Saracens, the portrait was displayed from the walls of
Constantinople and the Saracens were subsequently routed. The portrait was
credited with saving the city. The painting was eventually owned by Charlemagne
who subsequently presented the painting to Prince Leo of Ruthenia (northwest
Hungary).It remained at the royal palace in Ruthenia until an invasion occurred
in the eleventh century. The king prayed to Our Lady to aid his small army and
as a result of this prayer a darkness overcame the enemy troops who, in their
confusion, began attacking one another. Ruthenia was saved as a result of this
intervention by Our Lady. In the fourteenth century, it was transferred to the
Mount of Light (Jasna Gora) in Poland in response to a request made in a dream
of Prince Ladislaus of Opola.
The legendary history becomes better documented with the painting's ownership
by Prince Ladislaus. In 1382 invading Tartars attacked the Prince's fortress at
Belz. In this attack one of the Tartar arrows hit the painting and lodged in
the throat of the Madonna. The Prince, fearing that he and the famous painting
might fall to the Tartars, fled in the night finally stopping in the town of
Czestochowa, where the painting was installed in a small church. The Prince
subsequently had a Pauline monastery and church built to ensure the painting's
safety. In 1430, the Hussites overran the monastery and attempted to take the
portrait. One of the looters twice struck the painting with his sword but
before he could strike another blow he fell to the floor writhing in agony and
died. Both the sword cuts and the arrow wound are still visible in the
painting.
Later, in 1655, Poland was almost entirely overrun by the forces of Sweden's
King Charles X. Only the area around the monastery remained unconquered.
Somehow, the monks of the monastery successfully defended the portrait against
a forty day siege and eventually all of Poland was able to drive out the
invaders.